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If the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 had taken a name from its presence rather than from a French race driver, it might have been called the Bugatti Incroyable, because “incredible” is the perfect descriptor for a car that will hold its astounding position—as the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport did for three decades—until someone chooses to invest greater risk and daring in going further and doing better.

Unknown is how much mettle it will take to dislodge the Veyron’s implausible stats: a zero-to-60-mph time that is a gasp over two seconds and a top speed of 250 mph from the pull of 987 hp developed by a 16-cylinder engine. The Veyron’s most staggering number, however, may be its price of $1.25 million, which is roughly equal to the cost of a half-dozen Ferrari F430 Spiders.

The Veyron is a towering engineering achievement, a thing of considerable albeit bulbous beauty, and a vehicle that at slow speeds on suburban missions handles smoothly, comfortably, and safely. Magnifique.